For years, comedian Dave Chappelle has made transphobic jokes a part of his brand, and for just as long, trans activists have been very vocal about strongly disliking those jokes. Through boycotts and public callouts over the years, Chappelle has doubled down.
In a recent interview with NPR, however, the comedian vocalized discomfort about the fact that some Republicans have taken his transphobic jokes seriously, and have even weaponized them on their earnest attempts at the erasure of trans identity.
In a clip from the aforementioned interview that’s been circulating widely on social media, he spoke about a visit to Capitol Hill, where conservative U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert asked Chappelle to take a picture with her. After he hesitantly obliged, Boebert reportedly went on to post the picture on socials with the caption, “Just two people that know that it’s just two genders.”
It appeared, at that moment, to get a little too real for Chappelle.
“You know, I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing... I lit her ass up for doing that,” he told NPR.
But the space between the comedy Chappelle believes he’s creating and the impact his words are having in the real world is important to examine. The thing is, trans activists have been warning about how harmful Chappelle’s rhetoric has been for years, and Chappelle kept minimizing the impact, saying they were “just jokes” and claiming that they were often clipped and taken out of context.
Many comedians share the belief that nothing is truly off the table in comedy and that making jokes about a vulnerable group isn’t a malicious act. But it appears that Chappelle is becoming aware that this isn’t always the case — especially as we live through a transphobic administration whose laws are actively making the lives of trans Americans (who make up about 1% of the U.S. population) much harder.
Freedom of speech — and yes, even comedy — do not exist in a vacuum. As one of the most famous comedians in the country, Chappelle has had a hand in making trans jokes mainstream and has clearly empowered people who are directly in charge of making political decisions.
At a certain point, the comedy stops being about pushing boundaries or provoking thought and becomes part of a larger cultural script that makes it easier to dehumanize and legislate against the trans community. Maybe in the distant future, we’ll live in a country where trans people have equal access to voting, job opportunities and health care. Until then, it really is that deep.